Draft-gear.



- I. M. WAUGH.

DRAFT GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED JANJQ, 1911.

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DRAFT GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.19.191L

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

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J. M. WAUGH.

DRAFT GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.19,1911.

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T 0 all whom it may concern Be it lmown that I, Jane's M. Warren, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Qhicago, inthe county of (look and State of Illinois, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Draft(lears; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the numbers of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

T his invention relates to improvements in that class of draft gear'setforth in my prior patent for draft rigging for railway cars issued April17th, 1906, No. 818,066, and my application for patent for draftrigging,

filed on the 10th day of October, 1908, Serial No. 57,050, and in whichbufling and pulling stresses are absorbed by groups of spring frictionplates, in which the friction plates of each group are in physicalcontact face to face. in practice, said friction plates are arrangedtransversely between the center sills or draft arms, and usually withinthe draft yoke or tail strap. In some instances, the ends of said springand friction plates have been brought into engagement with thecentralizirg casing or other lateral confining walls therefor, owingperhaps to a very slight shifting of some of the plates in one or moregroups, laterally. Where this occurs, the cast (or other relativelysoft) metal lateral walls are soon more or less worn or cut thereby, andwhat is even more important, the increased resistance to the travel ofthe plates by the engagement of the ends thereof against said lateralwall, causes unequal stresses to be exerted on opposite sides of suchplates, not only tending to injuriously affect the plate, but, in fact,detracting in part from the highest edicieiicy of the device.

The object of this invention is to afford a smooth and hardened guide atthe ends of the respective groups on each side of the gear and in closere'lation with the plates of the respective groups, thereby acting toprevent any shifting whatsoever of the plates laterally under anyconditions, and affording a smooth hard surface for contact with the endof the plate to afford minimum friction of the extremities of the platesthereon.

It is also an object of the invention to arford a construction of theclass described, in

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 5, Serial No. 603,511.

which the respective groups of springs may be readily inspected todetermine their condition.

lit is also an object of the invention to afford a constructionaffording a quick renewal or replacement, if required.

Finally it is an object of the invention to afford a construction by theuse of which large shock absorbing capacity may be provided in arelatively short space between the center sills or draft irons.

The invention embraces many novel features and consists in the mattershereinafter set forth and more fully pointed out and defined in theappended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view partly in section of adevice embodying my invention, showing the same installed for locomotiveuse. Fig. 2 is a similar top plan view, showing the same installedbetween the center sills of a car. Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 ofFig. 1. Fig. 4: is a section on line of Fig. 2.

As shown in the drawings: Referring first to Figs. 1 and 3, 1 and 2,indicate the center sills of a locomotive tender constructed as shown,of channel bars, and between and to which is rigidly secured by rivetingor any suitable means, the draft gear casing comprising the upper or topwall 3, and front and rear transverse webs -l and 5, which fit betweenthe sills 1 and 2, and the longitudinal and integral webs and flanges 0and 7, the latter of which is respectively against the inner face of thechannel bars 1 and 2, and beneath the bottom flanges thereof, and

through which rivets or bolts extend and,

engage in said center sills. integrally connected with said top wall orcasing 3, are depending flanges 8 and 9, which afford the lateral wallsof the draft gear casing, and as shown, webs 10, are connected with saiddepending flanges 8 and 9, and the flanges 7 to reinforce theconstruction. Carrier bars 11 and 12, are held firmly in positionbeneath the depending flanges 8 and 9 respectively by means of clamps ormembers .13, which are rigidly secured to said flanges to aflord thebottom of the draft gear casing. Extending longitudinally of the casingin the top thereof, and on each side. are filler bars 14 and 15. Thetail 16, of the coupler extends through the end sill 17, as shown inFig. 1, and into the forward end of the casing and rigidly securedthereon, is the tail strap or yoke 18, which extends cenl l I trallythrough said casing to the rear end thereof, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.Secured within said casing and within the tail yoke, is a rear followerblock 19, which bears against the rear wall of the casing, and similarlypositioned at the front end of the yoke, is the forward follower block20. Arranged between said follower blocks under tension, are groups offiat spring plates 21, 22, 23 and 24::- These are of a width to fitloosely between the carrier bars 11 and 12, and filler bars 14: and 15,in said casing, and are separated into groups by means ofalternatelyarranged convex and concave spacing members, of which, as shown in thefour group arrangement illustrated in Fig. 1, a spacing member 25, isprovided against each of the follower blocks, which is flat on the sideadjacent thereto and convex on the side bearing against the adjacentspring group. Of course, said convexity may be cast or otherwiseprovided on the follower block itself, if desired, or, in other words,may be integral therewith. The central spacing member 26, is a doubleconvex member, while the alternate spacing members 27 are double concavespacing members. Each of these double concave members, as shown,comprise a wedge shaped member, the base of which is directed outwardlytoward the draft irons or wall of thebasing, while the thin or taperedends thereof are directed inwardly. A. relatively thin plate or web 28,is rigidly secured to each connecting the same rigidly together. In theconstruction shown, the plates are at all times centralized in the yokeand draft gear chamber or casing by means of guide plates 29 or 30.These are'securcd along the inner sides of the lateral casing walls 8and 9, and may be rigidly secured thereto in any suitable manner, orloosely inserted and are constructed of hardened steel or in anysuitable manner, preferably harder than the ends of the steel springplates. These are sumciently smooth to prevent the ends of said spring.lates biting therein or cutting the same. Said plates extend nearly onthe en-. tire length of the casing, and may be of any required width,and, as shown, the follower blocks fit between the same.

The construction illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4c, is substantially thesame with the" exception that the installation is shown in connectionwith the sill underframe of a car. In this construction, 31' and 32,indicate the center sills shown as 2 bars, though, of course, notnecessarily so, and to which are rigidly secured the rear and frontstops 33 and 34:, and 35 and 36, shown as riveted to the webs of saidsills. As shown, the horizontal bottom plate 37, is secured between saidsills affording the bottom of the draft chamber. The drawhead stem 38,extends as before described, through the end sill and easing, as shownin Fig. 2.

between the, center sills and rigidly secured thereon is the tail yoke39, which extends into and through the draft gear chamber, and the lowerside of which lies in a recess in the bottom or floor of the draftchamber, as shown in Fig. 4. Extending through said yoke at the rear andfront ends thereof, are follower blocks 40 and 4:1, of a length toextend across said chamber from sill to sill, and to bear against therespective front and rear stops. Secured within the yoke is a casing,which may be constructed of cast or pressed metal. This casing comprisesa rear end wall 12, and top wall 43, side walls 4-4, and a bottom wall45. Conveniently, the top and bottom walls of the casing are pressed orformed outwardly to fit substantially within the yoke, as shown in Fig.*l. Secured within the casing are a succession of groups of springplates indicated by 46, 47, l8, 49, and 50. These groups are springfriction plates arranged as before described, and said groups areseparated alternately by double convex and double concave spacingmembers 51, 52, 53 and 54. Inasmuch as an odd number of groups ofsprings is shown, the spacing member against which one of the end groupsbears will be a half concave, and that against which the groups at theother end bears, a half convex. For this purpose, as shown, a halfconvex spacing member 55, is secured in the ends of the The forward endof the casing is open, and bearing against the front follower block 40,and extending into said casing and bearing against the first groups ofsprings therein, is an abutment head 56, convex at its point of bearingagainst the spring group or in other words, substantially complementalwith the half concave member at the opposite end of the casing. Asshown, said abutment block is longitudinally grooved on each sidethereof, and extending through the respective side walls of the casingand into said grooves are stop and guide pins 57. Said pins serve asstops in assembling the groups in the casing and permit the casing withits contents to be shipped fully assembled. The space occupied by thegroups of plates and spacing members in the casing, and the length ofthe abutment block is such that some tension is normally exerted on saidplates, thereby holding all the parts constantly in o erative relation.Secured against each 0 the lateral walls of the casing, which lies inclose proximity with the ends of the plates affording each of saidgroups for the .purpose before described. View apertures may be providedin the top, bottom, or side wall of the casing to permit the contents ofthe casing to be examined whenever desired. This may be accomplishedreadily in the constructions illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive,inasmuch as practically the entire bottom of the gear is exposed toview. In the construction illustrated in Figs. and 4, the gear may hedropped down from between the center sills when desired for thispurpose, should the top of the casing be left partly open or theliottoin of the casing may be left partly or wholly open.

The operation is as follows: In bufiing or pulling, the stress iscommunicated to the spring plates and is absorbed frictionally by saidplates acting as springs and also what is more important, is absorbed bysaid plates for theirentire surfaces as friction members. The frictionaleffect rapidly increases with the stress of the shock imparted, and inconsequence, the construction a fi'ords enormouscushioning capacity. Thecushioning capacity, however, may be varied by increasing the number ofplates in the respective groups to obtain greater cushioning elticiencyor by decreasing the number in the respective groups by increasing thethickness or space occupied by the respective spacing members. The hardand smooth guide members at each end of the spring plates serve at alltimes to hold said plates from any tendency whatever to work towardeither side of the casing. Owing to the hardness of said guide platesthese may be. termed anti-friction guide plates for there is very littlefriction exerted by the ends of the spring plates bearing thereagainst,and in consequence, the maximum cushioning effect is at all timescentralized or in alinement with the yoke, thus obviating any tendencyto the breakage of plates because of unequal resistance to travel exerted at the ends of the plates.

Obviously, details of the construction may be varied, and I do notpurpose limiting the patent on this application otherwise thannecessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the class described a spring casing open at one endand partly open on the side thereof to permit inspection, spring platestherein, spacing members dividing the springs into groups, a groovedabutment block adapted to bear firmly against the spring plates, andguide and stop pins extending through the respective side walls of thecasing and into the grooves in the abutment block and adapted to guidethe abutment block during movement as well as act as a stop to preventthe displacement of the springs.

In a device of the class described the combination with the groups ofspring plates, the spacing members and the follower blocks, of a casingpartly inclosing the same and partly open on one side thereof to permitinspection, and guide plates in each side the casing in closerelationwith the ends of the spring plates.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presenceoftwo subscribing witnesses.

JAMES MILTON VVAIIGH. Witnesses:

LAWRENCE REIBsTEIN, CHARLES W. TILLs, Jr.

Malina at thlliii patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of :lE'llitfilllltllb

